ACORN Is Not the Nut Here
by David Swanson
This article originally appeared in AfterDowningStreet.org.
"The kid trying to scam extra bucks has no intention of
trying to vote multiple times, risking imprisonment, and no intention of
bringing in corpses to have them vote."
From 2000 to 2003 I was the communications coordinator for ACORN,
the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. I don't know whether
to be sorry or relieved that I don't have my old job now.
ACORN has been through some scandals of its own making, but it is currently all
over the news because of a pair of absolutely fraudulent and nationally
coordinated attacks.
One of these attacks involves accusations of voter fraud. But, of course,
"voter fraud" almost doesn't exist, and federal prosecutors have lost
their jobs because they couldn't find evidence of its existence to satisfy the
Bush White House. In fact, the accusations against ACORN are not about voting,
but about voter registration.
Now, if some kid fills out bogus forms in order to make more money from ACORN
for supposedly registering voters, ACORN is supposed to try to catch that stuff
and not turn in those forms. On the whole, ACORN has registered huge numbers of
people with only a tiny percentage of problems. But the more important point is
that the kid trying to scam extra bucks has no intention of trying to vote
multiple times, risking imprisonment, and no intention of bringing in corpses
to have them vote, as CNN
seems to imagine. There's no money in fraudulent voting, only enormous
risk. But there is money and power in vote suppression and vote miscounting,
the major stories that this one is meant to distract from.
The other attack on ACORN focuses on blaming the
Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) for the collapse of Wall Street. Most subprime
loans, and therefore most predatory loans, are not made in order to comply with
CRA. In fact, low-income and minority communities have seen a great deal of
activism in recent years demanding that the predatory lenders stay out, not in.
ACORN coined the phrase "predatory lending" and made news years ago
by beginning a major campaign to keep loans that are worse than nothing out of
neighborhoods.
"ACORN coined the phrase ‘predatory lending.'"
Predatory loans are not loans made to the wrong kind of people. They are loans
made in very deceptive ways with the aim of making the borrower believe they'll
be able to pay it back, but with the aim of making them fail. Predatory
mortgage lenders make money by refinancing repeatedly, extracting more fees
each time, and eventually seizing the property. This is accomplished with
misleading fine print that strips people of their equity through all sorts of
hidden fees and charges and rate increases, and by consolidating credit card
and other debt with house debt. Every year, ACORN produces a lengthy report
documenting the targeting of racial minorities with these loans.
For years, ACORN has led efforts to ban predatory loans through local and state
legislation, while the same gang that is now so upset about these loans being
made has fought endlessly against bans and restrictions.
The good news is that the family of organizations known as ACORN is growing,
raising wages, improving schools, reforming corporations, building housing,
organizing active citizens, and clearly threatening the powers that be. ACORN
has decidedly moved past the stage of being ignored and even the stage of being
laughed at. ACORN is now being attacked. Next comes victory.
David Swanson holds a master's degree in philosophy from the University of
Virginia. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications
director, with jobs including press secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004
presidential campaign, media coordinator for the International Labor
Communications Association, and three years as communications coordinator for
ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Swanson is
Co-Founder of AfterDowningStreet.org
and Washington Director of Democrats.com,
a board member of Progressive Democrats of America, the Backbone Campaign, and
Voters for Peace, and a member of the legislative working group of United for
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